Just Bought 2005 Bonne GXP: Need Advice

[ntfarizona]

As the subject line states, I just bought a 2005 GXP and would like some advice on a few minor issues. At 63,000 miles the car is in pretty good condition overall, but a few problems have surfaced that need addressing.

The first is a slight transmission hesitation when shifting to higher gears and rapidly accelerating. I experience no hesitation when downshifting. After some research I suspect that the problem is related to the solenoid or a dirty valve, but I'm not completely sure. I did drive the car 400 miles from the seller's location in CA to my home in AZ, and overall the car ran beautifully. My plan of action at this point is to change the transmission fluid and filter before exploring more complicated solutions. I'm really hoping that I don't end up with a total rebuild on my hands. Does that sound like what this could be?

The second problem is that my fuel gauge isn't working. It hovers near E no matter how much gas I have in the tank, meaning that I have to rely on the fuel range data (which is working properly) to keep track. In addition, the speedometer is off by about 30 mph. It keeps track of acceleration and deceleration just fine, but the needle indicates a speed 30 mpg greater than that at which I am actually driving. I'm concerned that this may require a whole new instrument panel. Could it possibly be a bad electrical connection instead?

Finally, I have a burned out bulb behind the clock on the dash and the driver's side seat warmer switch does not work. Can these be individually replaced? I'm thinking that the seat warmer may just be a blown fuse, but I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks!

[bobgto65]

You may want to look at the triple edge performance web site to look at common transmission problems.. They mainly deal with the 4T65E in the 3800 engines but the 4T80E is similar but much more heavy duty and problems are uncommon. If a shift solenoid is bad, they are internal and the valve body has to come off. Dave is good at answering e-mails about these transmissions.

Look over the common problems thread in the 2000-2005 Bonneville section - it is the first thread and that will address your other problems. If your speedo is reading high, the gauge may be bad and you can send the cluster Bonnevilles Unlimited to repair. The car can be driven without it and it takes 5 minutes to remove.

[CMNTMXR57]

1) the Solenoids are on the drivers side of the case, it requires the subframe being dropped, and the drivers side fo the case removed to get access to them. There is no other way to do it as there is no room to unbolt the side case and work around it. You'll see what I am talking about if you look where the fill cap for the trans is. That is the side case. Changing fluid will help, but the solenoids are causing this either because they're faulty OR they have some debris in the pintles of the solenoid, clogging them and doing any sort of flushing can only exxagerate the issue. Usually we find that shutting it off, give it a little bit and restarting will stop it from happening as the pressure is stopped, and fluid has a chance to return back to the pan.

2) stepper motors. Common problem in all 2000+ Bonnevilles.

3) See if you can find someone local who does bulb replacement if you're not confident in disassembling the radio and unsoldering/soldering in the right bulbs. Or send it to Andrew (Harofreak). He'll either fix it or sell you a replacement unit.

Again, reading this section has many of the answers you're asking.

[ntfarizona]

Checked out the common problems thread. It had the information I needed on the other issues. In the meantime, my speedometer has managed to reset itself within the last 24 hours. The fuel gauge is still dead though.

One last thing that I can't find any answers to is where to find the color of my car's leather seats. The passenger seat has some cracks that I want to repair, but I don't know what the exact shade of my leather is. Searching online has proved fruitless. My interior is the cashmere/tan since I have the white pearl exterior. Also, any suggestions on refinishing the window trim and finding replacement headlamps? Both have incurred some (but not severe) sun damage.

[00Beast]

Your interior is technically called Medium Neutral, I think. Don't quote me on that...

Window trim has seen a lot of fixes, from removing all the rubber and painting, to scuffing the crap off and wrapping with vinyl, both plain black, as well as carbon fiber and other types. A search will net you many results.

Headlights, good luck. The GXP had different headlights than the other 00+ Bonnevilles, they had a different high-beam bulb (HIR versus traditional halogen) and the reflectors were darker chrome. They're expensive new from GM. You can try sanding and buffing, or the new method on here which uses UV wood-finish: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... ht#p355373

[CMNTMXR57]

Back to Black or similar type of product doesn't work on the window trim?

AS to lighting parts, or really any used parts, if Andrew doesn't have them (Which in a recent post of his in the for sale section, I seem recall a couple GXP headlight assemblies) Car-part.com. This is where I sourced my replacement fog light assemblies, which turned out to be brand new, unused assemblies.

[00Beast]

Back to Black is basically fancy tire shine...

[CMNTMXR57]

Regardless, it does help restore shine/luster to black trim pieces.

Is the issue that the actual trim pieces are pitted and ugly and no amount of topical solution will matter? Mine actually were starting to have that issue.

[JaxGXP]

Back to Black or similar type of product doesn't work on the window trim?

Yes, maybe it does. The jury is out until it is washed a time or two but I used the B to B cleaner and the B to B restorer today on my GXP window trim and it made a significant improvement. Ten years of Florida sun and UV has taken it's toll on the window trim which was fading to gray in some places. Just one step of several in getting the old girl ready for a trade in. I'll do an update soon on how the treatment holds up.

[MikeKerr]

Original poster, is your GXP a white GXP from a seller in San Diego?

[ntfarizona]

Okay, first off, the door trim is starting to fade, but it also has places where the smooth black finish has been rubbed off completely, revealing the rough surface underneath. I'll post a picture tomorrow as it is now dark. (Also, how do you attach pictures in these posts? I can't figure it out!) As for the headlights, I am presuming that the urethane solution only works on exterior hazing, not interior issues like micro cracks. I'll check out the leads you've provided.

MikeKerr, you are correct. The car is Pearl White and I bought it in San Diego. It was advertised for awhile on xmmotors.com, but I ended up buying it straight from the owner, who is actually a good friend of the dealer. It was the closest one to my location in Arizona by far. The car isn't flawless obviously, but it seems to be in good enough shape to take a chance on. The biggest issue appears to be that the previous owner only drove the car 2,500 miles in two years of ownership (there is a story behind that as well) and had no maintenance performed except for changing the oil.

[CMNTMXR57]

Yea, I think you're is suffering from what mine was starting to do also. Only way to recondition them is to R&R them.

To attach pics, first you must post them online on a site like Photobucket or Flickr, etc...

Then copy the URL of the picture you want, paste it here, and put image tags around it. For example;

Pasteintheurlofyourpicturehostedonline[/ i m g]

remove the spaces.

[MikeKerr]

You mention speedometer problems, etc. I looked at a white pearl GXP in San Diego and it ended up being not only a salvage title, but they had replaced the instrument panel which rolled back the mileage on the speedometer. The actual mileage on the vehicle was much more than was being displayed on the vehicle. I ran a carfax/ autocheck and confirmed the actual mileage.

I just bring this up as you are having numerous instrument panel issues and am hoping you didn't get the fraudulent GXP that was for sale in San Diego.

[CMNTMXR57]

My guess is that it was just a swapped cluster with lesser mileage. No roll back.

In order to correct mileage, it has to be taken to a GM dealer, get authorization from the Tech Center and download the permissions through a Tech2. Probably something that shop didn't have, and/or access to. They just replaced the cluster and moved on.

[ntfarizona]

I have the entire carfax on the car and everything looks clean. Nothing was mentioned about replacing the instrument cluster, and the car was serviced by the original dealer for the first six years of its life. In addition, nothing is mentioned about a salvage title.

The only way to double check is for you to give me the VIN of the car you looked at. How long ago was this?

[CMNTMXR57]

On the CarFax, do you see any mileage out of sequence?

[ntfarizona]

No.

[MikeKerr]

The car I was tracking was hit on the right hand side and had less than standard work done on the repair. The seller claimed he was selling it for some women, he said he was involved in aviation, etc. I am guessing it is not the same car as the carfax showed the issue and you ran a carfax and it came in clean.

[MikeKerr]

If this is the one you purchased it is not the same car that had the rolled back mileage:

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/4445492502.html

[CMNTMXR57]

No HUD but I heart that color...